Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at the National Maritime Museum to mark 200 years of the Royal National  Lifeboat Institution. Given the show was billed as being part of the 200th anniversary I would have liked to have seen a bit more history in it. There was a good timeline and a few exhibits around fundraising but that was it. Instead the real focus of the show were the photographs by Jack Lowe who has set himself the challenge of photographing all 238 operational RNLI lifeboat stations across the British Isles using glass-plate photography. The photographs were shown in pairs with a picture of the view from the station and, in this case, a picture of the women who are based there. The photographs had a Victorian feel due to the technique used. Closed 2 December 2024

Fun art fair in Battersea Park selling works by a wide range of contemporary artists. There were around 100 galleries represented at the show set in a superior temporary venue. Looking down on the show from the café you got a sense of colour and excitement. One of the main themes which emerged was pictures of London but I guess they knew their market. I saw a lot of work being bought and a lot of happy people leaving with parcels. Of course I was tempted but resisted. I think my favourite with was this interior with flowers by Louise Millin but shout outs also go to   Jennifer Greenland’s view of Monmouth Street, Mick Dean’s paintings of The Thames in East London and Lilyn Ogwen’s amazing Welsh landscapes. Closed 20 October 2024

Interesting exhibition at the National Gallery focusing on “The Hay Wain” by Constable. I like these small shows focusing on a single painting and putting it into context. This time it sets the famous Constable against other paintings of rural life at the time as well as discussing the politics of the countryside. The show began with a selection of earlier and contemporary work including a beautiful Stubbs of reapers. It also included satirical cartoons of the time to represent the politics issues of the era. The main section looked at Constable himself with commentaries on his early work, how he created the actual picture and his later work. It included sketches made outdoors of the scene, the initial small compositional painting and the paint sketch to scale. It was fascinating to see the compositional choices he made at the different stages. It was a lovely touch to include some small carved figures believed to be by Constable and the gold medal awarded to the painting in 1...

Fun, vibrant exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum looking at the Taboo nightclub and the fashion of the people who went there. The club was opened by designer and performance artist, Leigh Bowery in 1985 with the dress code ‘dress as though your life depends on it, or don’t bother’. The show started by looking at the club and what those who went wore with sections on each of the designers and shops they favoured. I loved an installation which recreated a night in the club complete with DJ. It then looked at the designers who went to the club including Bowery himself and how their careers developed. There was a fun display upstairs on the pop stars of the early 80s who wore the fashions which brought back a lot of memories and another on the department store Browns which supported a lot if the designers. As with a lot of shows like this the best bit was my fellow punters, many of whom had been there, and literally got the t-shirt.   Closes 9 March 2024 Review Ti...

Repetitive exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey of new work by Tracey Emin. I try to like Emin’s work and do admire the free mark making but find them too introspective to be viewed on mass. Any individual one in show would make an interesting point but together I get a bit bored. I liked the inclusion of a big sculpture with the same title as the show which I thought I’d seen there before but checking I realise this is a new work. Closed 10 November 2024 Reviews Times Telegraph Evening Standard l

Bright exhibition   at Eames Fine Art of prints of London by Gail Brodholt organised into an A-Z. I love Brodholt’s clear, colourful prints and liked her short descriptions of the scenes. The prints were from a range of dates with different titles to the A-Z. I particularly like her scenes of tube stations and railway junctions as they are such iconic London scenes. Some of the prints see to have been made with an iridescent ink and I’d have liked to know more about that. It gives a lovely effect. Closed 3 November 2024